Overcoming Performance Limitations of Commercial Solar Cells

closed

This project aimed to improve solar cell performance and reduce production costs by mass-producing solar cells using large-scale commercial manufacturing. It achieved the world’s first 20% efficient p-type CZ cell fabricated using commercial equipment, 10 years ahead of the timing predicted by international experts. The efficiency of commercial solar cells (the amount of energy converted from sunlight) has increased significantly in recent years while their costs have fallen by more than 50%. Yet most commercial solar cells perform well below leading laboratory technologies such as the Passivated Emitter Rear Locally diffused (PERL) solar cell from the University of NSW, which has a record efficiency of 25%.This project investigated ways to improve solar cell performance and reduce production costs by mass-producing solar cells using large-scale commercial manufacturing.This involved the identification of ways to incorporate the high efficiency aspects of laboratory solar cell designs into low cost versions of the designs that are suitable for mass production at greatly reduced costs.

High